Losing Her Other Half
by LacytheSilverWerewolf
Summary: She just got her brother back. Her father was safe and her world was righting itself. And then she felt it. The pull on her mating bond that told her something new was wrong. Something new was very wrong. Derek had been taken from her and she had to get him back. Derek/OC


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Lacy here, a day late and a dollar-wait...Sorry for not posting this yesterday, I was so tired, I was basically delirious. It was not fun. So anything my brain didn't remember is explained by that. Anywho! As we know, with all in between stories, this will connect the end of season three B with beginning of season four. Unlike the others, though, it isn't a happy one. At all. Read on!

Disclaimer: I own Effie.

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~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

"A tracking spell?"

Effie wasn't sure how to handle those words. But at this point, she was willing to try anything to get a solid fix on wherever Derek was. It had already been two weeks since he vanished from his loft, leaving nothing but blood and shell casings behind. Oh, and a mystery scent no one could identify.

"What do I need to do?" Effie asked Deaton. The druidvet - hey, if Effie was a druidfox, he was a druidvet - stood across the exam table from Effie with Stiles at her side.

Deaton hedged for a moment. "It's dangerous, Effie."

The fox leaned her hands on the table, eyes locked on the vet. "My mate is missing and I feel like I'm going to claw my own skin off if I don't find him. Now what. Do I. Need. To do?"

"Alight," Deaton nodded and started moving around the room. "this needs to be done in a place where you and Derek are together the most."

"The loft." the twins chorused. Deaton looked surprised.

"They don't exactly like having a cop watch their every move." Stiles pointed out. "And Dad has a lovely, _'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'_ policy."

Deaton chuckled. "Of course. The loft it is. I'll need to be there to ensure nothing goes wrong and Stiles, you'll need to be Effie's anchor." The elder twin nodded. "Effie, you'll need a map, a vial of your blood and mountain ash."

"Why her blood?" Stiles asked.

"When Derek and I mated, we marked each other." Effie answered. "We became part of each other. So Derek's essence, so to speak, will be in my blood."

Stiles gave a single nod. "Okay then." He'd wrap his head around just how serious his sister's relationship was at another time.

"The full moon is in three days," Deaton said. "and that will be the optimal time to do this. Can you wait that long?"

"Do I have a choice?" Effie retorted.

"Not really." Deaton answered, though it wasn't needed.

Effie sighed. "What size map?"

Deaton tapped the table. "You can still feel his pack bond, but that doesn't really help because how strongly you're tied to your pack. Start with a world map and if we have to do this more than once to narrow it down, we will."

"Okay."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie moved through the loft, running her hand absently over the table and covers of Derek's bed. Well, really, it was her bed, as well. She'd been spending more time there then in her room at her house. But, since completing the mating ritual, both Derek and Effie slept better when in each other's presence. That led to one hell of an awkward conversation with John, once he noticed how little his daughter was sleeping in her bed.

Turning as the loft door opened, Effie watched Deaton and Stiles walk in together. Followed by John.

"Dad." she whispered.

John smiled. "I wasn't about to let you do this alone, sweetie. And your brother's a terrible liar."

"Hey!" Stiles protested. "It's not my fault Melissa misunderstood me."

Effie sighed. "You were just supposed to ask for a tourniquet band, Stiles. What did you say?"

"Let's not go there." John waved off Effie's question. "Needless to say, I'll be sending her flowers. For months." he gripped Effie's shoulder. "You sure about this, baby girl?"

Effie met her dad's gaze. "It's Derek."

John nodded. "Alright." That was all he needed.

The foursome moved to the table and Deaton spread out the supplies. John placed down the band while Deaton added a syringe to draw Effie's blood. Effie had already laid out several maps and Deaton placed the jar of mountain ash next to them.

"Wait," John leaned his hands on the table. "I thought the supernatural couldn't use mountain ash. It repels them."

"Effie's different." Deaton explained. "Because she was a Spark before being turned, she retained her magic. And with that, the advantage of being able to continuing using mountain ash."

"I hit the fortune five hundred with this supernatural crap." Effie quipped.

John chuckled. "That's an understatement."

The loft fell silent as Deaton drew Effie's blood and set the syringe aside. After that, he spread out the first map, of the world, and dumped the ash all over it, covering it completely.

Stiles frowned. "How are we supposed to find Derek if we can't see the map?"

"That's what this is for," Deaton held up the syringe. "Effie, you need to do this next bit." he handed her the needle and let her take his place in front of the map. "Put about a third of the blood in the center of the ash. Then you're going to put your hands on the edges and I want you to focus on your bond with Derek. Just your mate bond, nothing else. The blood will move through the ash, towards wherever he is."

"If it works." Effie said, gripping the needle.

"It'll work." Stiles and John echoed each other.

Effie gave the two a small smile before doing as Deaton told her. Once she emptied a third of the blood, she set her hands against the map's edge and shut her eyes. Reaching deep into herself, she followed the bright thread that tied her to Derek. It had always been there, in some fashion, but it wasn't until after they mated that it took on a golden glow, twined with red and orange. And it felt warm.

Effie let that warmth fill her, let the glow grow as much as it dared, and let herself focus on Derek.

Stiles stood at Effie's side, hand resting on her shoulder and eyes fixed on the map. He ignored the murmured words of his father and Deaton, ignored any outside noises that weren't coming from his sister or himself.

"It's moving." he said once he saw signs of movement in the blood. The three men watched the blood trail away from the center of the map and towards the western part of the world. It traveled along the equator line before dipping into Mexico, covering the country.

Effie suddenly gasped, dropping back away from the table, taking Stiles with her.

"Breathe, Ef." Stiles coached. "Come on, focus on breathing." he brushed her hair back as she took a deep breath. "There ya go, kid. Good job."

"Did-" Effie gasped for a moment before taking another steady breath. "Did it work?"

Deaton looked over the map. "Looks like it. At least, part way. We know he's in Mexico."

Effie huffed a laugh, running a hand over her face. "Awesome, an entire country and we're looking for one person. Needle meet haystack."

"Hey, none of that." Stiles shook his head. "We've still got two thirds of the syringe and a lot more maps. We'll narrow it down." he helped Effie stand. "But first, take a minute to your breath back."

"I'm fine." Effie insisted.

"No, you're not." Stiles pushed back. "Come on, Ef. I know you as well as you know me. You need a minute to process whatever happened while you worked that tracking."

Effie worried her lip before looking at her brother. "I felt him, Stiles. Not just our bond, but I felt Derek. It was like he was standing right in front of me, but I couldn't touch him." tears filled her eyes. "He was there, Stiles."

John and Deaton watched the twins as Stiles pulled Effie into his arms and let her cry. Aside from anger and some quiet depression, the druidfox hadn't shown much emotion towards Derek being missing. This was the first major break down she'd had since feeling Derek getting taken from his loft.

"I never thought," John cleared his throat. "I never thought they would find a bond like this." he looked at Deaton. "After we lost Claudia, they closed off from everyone, but me and each other. It took nearly six months before they let Scott back in. To see Effie this close to someone who isn't her brother," he looked back at his kids. "She can't lose Derek."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

It took the rest of Effie's blood and two more maps before they couldn't narrow Derek's location down any further. The blood just kept pooling around a large area of Mexican desert and wouldn't go anywhere else.

And then John returned to being a cop, instead of an understanding father.

"We'll call the Mexican authorities." He said. "Give them Derek's name, description. Everything we can. They'll take it from here."

Effie scoffed. "You can't expect me to just stay here, like a good little girl, while Derek is still missing."

"I can and you will." John said, his tone final. "This is how the law works, Effie."

"This isn't the law, Dad!" Effie argued. "The people you're used to didn't take Derek. The people you arrest didn't come in here, shooting assault rifles and drag him off to god knows where. The people who did this don't follow the law!"

"As long as you live under my roof," John dropped his tone. "you will follow my rules. And my rules are the law."

"No!" Effie turned away, gripping her hair as she paced. "No! I can't just-No!"

"Effie?" Deaton stepped closer. "Effie, what's wrong?"

Effie panted. "I can't-He-I need-"

"Ef," Stiles grabbed Effie's arms. "Ef, talk to me. What's going on?"

"It hurts." Effie growled. "So much."

"I can see that, little sister." Stiles soothed. "But you need to tell me what hurts."

"My fox." Effie panted. "My magic. It all hurts." she cried out, dropping to her knees. "Stiles!"

"I'm right here, Effie." Stiles went with her, still holding her arms. "Right here, not going anywhere." he panted right along side Effie as she whimpered and whined in pain, almost as if he was in pain as well. "Hold on, kid. You're gonna be fine. I swear."

"Effie," John moved towards them.

"Stay back." Stiles snapped.

Deaton set a hand on John's shoulder. "Whatever's happening, it might be best to let Stiles handle this."

"She's my daughter!" John protested.

"And you telling her she couldn't go after her mate might have triggered this." Deaton cautioned. "Let Stiles take care of her."

"Effie?" Stiles's scared voice pulled the two men back. "Wake up, Ef! Effie, wake up!" he looked at the two. "She's not waking up!"

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Three days. It had been three days since Effie fell into a coma-like state. John had wanted to admit her to the hospital, but Deaton insisted it was supernatural related and it was best to leave her in the loft, where she'd be comfortable and surrounded by familiar smells. Namely, Derek's.

In those three days, Stiles didn't leave the loft. He sat beside Effie, paced around the open space. Showered and ate when he needed, but he always made sure he could hear Effie, just in case.

Hearing the loft door open, Stiles looked up from his chemistry textbook and nodded to Deaton, who'd been coming over the check on Effie every morning and evening.

"How is she?" Deaton asked.

Stiles looked at his sister, lying next to him on the bed. "Same as before. Though, her eyes have been moving more in the last hour or so."

Deaton sat on Effie's other side, checking her pulse. "Perhaps she's getting ready to wake up."

No sooner had the words left Deaton's mouth, did Effie's eyes fly open. And the first thing Stiles noticed was that they were lilac. Next were her fangs and claws. Before Stiles could grab her, she took a swipe at Deaton, who barely jumped back in time to save his throat. Stiles managed to grab Effie's wrists and pinned them to the bed.

"Effie!" Stiles shouted at her. "Effie, stop!" he struggled to hold her in place. "Come on, Mimo! Focus!"

Effie suddenly gasped and just like that, her eyes were hazel and her fangs and claws were gone.

"Stiles?" Effie's voice was a whisper.

"Hey kid, welcome back." Stiles moved beside her, letting Effie sit up. "You had us worried."

Effie frowned. "What happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Deaton asked, moving back towards the twins.

Effie shook her head a bit. "Arguing with Dad over going to Mexico. Then pain. Then nothing."

Stiles looked at Deaton. "Doc?"

Deaton exhaled, checking Effie over. "I'm not sure. Effie, shift for me and use your magic."

Effie swallowed before doing as she was told. A simple shift into beta form and her magic glowed around her hands.

"What rune are you using?" Deaton asked.

"I'm," Effie exhaled. "I'm not."

"How is that possible?" Stiles questioned.

"Effie," Deaton's face screamed confusion and concentration. "focus on your fox and magic. What do they feel like?"

"They feel," Effie shifted back to normal. "it's strange. Before, it was like two voices warring in my head. Now, they're both still there, but they seem to be working together. Almost harmoniously. Like they're the same now."

"This is unbelieveable." Deaton said. "I've never heard of this happening."

"What happened?" the twins asked.

"Effie, I believe your fox and druid have become one." Deaton said. "I'll have to research it some, see if it should even be possible, but that's my best guess."

"Is she gonna be okay?" Stiles asked. "I mean, is it safe for that to happen?"

"I have no idea." Deaton said honestly. "I've never heard of it happening with a shifter. I really do need to research this."

"Go." Effie said. "I'll be right here."

Deaton nodded and quickly left. Stiles focused on his sister, watching her as she stared at her hands like they belonged to someone else.

"Ef?"

"If my fox and druid are now part of each other," Effie said quietly. "why don't I feel whole?" she looked at Stiles. "Why do I still feel a gaping hole in my gut?"

"Because your fox and druid might be together," Stiles said softly. "but there's still a piece missing. And we will get him back."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

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Yeah, Effie's different. Again. What else is new, right? So, sorry for the sadness level of this story, but we know with what Derek goes through in season four, anything leading to it is gonna suck, massively. Okay, let me know what you think, flame policy stands and thanks for reading! And be on the look out for Relief, Relive, Rebirth on Wednesday!

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